Long Beach police shot an armed woman next to the post office in downtown Long Beach on Saturday.

The shooting occurred on Third Street between Elm Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard.

Officers responded to multiple calls at 9:47 a.m. about a person with a gun at Third Street and Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach Police spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said.

The department’s SWAT team was called to the scene, she said.

Arrona said officers blocked off the area and ordered the woman to drop her weapon. She did not comply, Arrona said.

The department’s Mental Evaluation Team responded and spoke with the woman for more than an hour, she said.

When she brandished what appeared to be a semi-automatic gun at about 11:30 a.m., police opened fire, Arrona said. The woman was taken away in an ambulance to a local hospital in “critical but stable” condition, she said.

Resident Christopher Drakeford said he heard multiple gun shots and people screaming.

This was the 19th officer-involved shooting in Long Beach this year, more than double the nine that occurred in 2012.

A woman holds a gun as Long Beach police officers shout commands for her to drop it on Third Street in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A woman with a gun rests her head on a car as Long Beach police officers surround her on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A woman is loaded on to an ambulance after being shot by Long Beach police officers on Third Street in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police officers approach a woman after a shooting on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach police officers approach a woman after shooting on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in Downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A woman is loaded on to an ambulance after being shot by Long Beach police officers on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in Downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A woman falls to the ground after being shot by Long Beach police officers on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Long Beach keep an eye a woman with a gun on Third Street between Elm Ave and Long Beach Blvd. in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A Long Beach police officer examines the scene where police shot an armed woman in downtown Long Beach on Saturday. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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